Page 65 of A Dangerous Proposal

Gently taking her elbow, he guided her up the steps of her porch and into the house. “Take a quick look around. See if anything is missing and then pack a bag for you and Jax.”

Madison gaped at him.

His expression firmed, and Alex met her gaze, his eyes unwavering even while he stroked a hand down Jax’s back.

“You called me for help, Angel. You could have called the police. But you didn’t. You called me. Now I’m going to take care of you.” He pulled his head back a little and smiled down at Jax, and Madison’s heart melted a little. “Both of you.”

Leaving Jax with Alex, Madison quickly jogged upstairs to pack a bag of essentials for both of them. She pushed back the tears that threatened and ignored the mess as she gathered what she could.

No room had been spared, but hers was especially bad. Her clothing had been pulled from their hangers and shredded, herbooks and jewelry dumped on the floor. Salvaging what she could, she hurried on to Jax’s things.

Thankfully, Jax’s clothing was mostly untouched, though almost all of his stuffed animals had been ripped to shreds. There was a violence to the carnage that was deeply unsettling.

Alex’s face hardened as he took in her expression when she reached him.

“Well, at least I get a shopping spree out of it,” she tried to joke, but her words came out flat.

“You’ll be safe in my home,” he said, a statement that left no room for argument.

“No, we can’t do that. A hotel will be fine. I don’t need to be ‘kept safe.’ Someone broke in. That doesn’t mean they’ll come back.”

Alex’s jaw flexed. “No.”

She threw up her hands. “You can’t just say no, Alex, and expect me to follow along. Jax and I can go to a hotel until I can get this cleaned up.”

“A hotel,” he muttered darkly, but before he could continue, Liev approached him and said something in a low tone. “Wait for me outside,” he instructed brusquely.

When they were alone again, he said, “Daylight, Angel. When someone would have expected you to be home. My security team says this wasn’t a robbery. Your jewelry is still here, as well as cash and computers. This was a personal attack. What would have happened if you and Jax were home when these people broke in or if you walked in on them?”

Madison's lips wobbled, but he didn’t relent. “Why didn’t you call the police, Madison?” He pushed, staring at her expectantly.

“Because Felix would use it as proof my job is too dangerous for Jax.”

That seemed to give Alex pause, and his eyes flickered. “Your new case... the cover-up with the fire and police department. Have you had any threats?”

“Nothing overt.” Madison shook her head. Adrenaline was now rapidly leaving her body, leaving her dizzy and sick. But glancing around, there was nowhere to sit. Then his words hit her. “You’ve been listening?”

Alex ignored the question. “Have there been threats, yes or no?”

“No. But after what happened with the last case... who knows?”

“What about Felix?”

“What about him?” She pressed hard at the skin under her eyes, willing the tears not to fall, as Alex’s large hand lifted to her shoulder so that his thumb stroked her collarbone in an oddly soothing way.

Breathe. Hold it together just a little longer. You can do this.

Do. Not. Fall. Apart.

“Could he have done this? To frighten you?” Alex probed.

Madison shrugged. “He’s certainly capable of it, but I don’t see how he could have gotten past my security system. It’s supposed to be state-of-the art.” She made a face. “Then again, I’ve had a lot of problems with it.”

“Liev said as much. He thinks they used an outside jammer to trick the alarm into thinking the door was closed.”

“They?”

“The amount of damage done so quickly, it was most likely a crew, not an individual.”

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